Honeymoon Part 1: Bali (Island of the Gods)

We are on the Indonesian island of Bali. It has been glorious. It is perhaps a bit "touristy" in spots, but definitely a wonderful place to spend a few days (or more), with lots to do, lots to enjoy, and lots of very friendly and extremely polite people (Balinese are perhaps the nicest people we have ever met!). It has been a great choice for our first honeymoon stop (Indonesia also being a country new to both of us), and we are so blessed for the gifts of travel we received for our wedding!



We spent a fun day on Sunday in San Francisco with Serena, Brad, Hanh, and Wai Kiu (enjoying tasty eats at Hog & Rocks [oysters and ham] and PPQ Dungeness Crab and seeing the latest Harry Potter flick in 3D) before catching the ~Asia equivalent of a red-eye, a 1 a.m. flight leaving SF bound for Hong Kong. About 24 hours and two flights later (thanks, Jenny and Ron!), with some good movies, "How I Met Your Mother" to be watched and a good book ("The Help" is a great read, and I can't wait for the movie!!) along the way, we arrived safely in Bali, which is one of Indonesia's 17,508 (or so) islands.

I have never had such a smooth entry into a country. We got visas on arrival, which took all of about 20 seconds, got our bags (no luggage lost this trip!), cleared customs, and were at our hotel after about a 10-minute cab ride. We were lucky to be able to stay at the Holiday Inn resort at the beach at Tuban, accommodations which are far superior to our usual lodging (thanks, Neyers), and had a relaxing dinner and rest of the evening.

By the hotel pool


Do you think any more "stuff" could be fit on this motorbike?


On Wednesday, we enjyoyed the great outdoors. First, we went snorkeling off of the Nusa Dua peninsula (thanks, Pallavi/Amanda and Howards!), where we saw tons of varieties of colorful fish and even some eels (!). I believe the last time I went snorkeling was about 17 years ago in Australia, so this was quite a fun adventure!



We then visited Turtle Island, where we toured a sea turtle farm and got to hold all kinds of critters:

Green sea-turtle


This one was 65 years old!


Iguana


Python


Bat (I declined holding this one-- and was worried about K doing so- with no recent rabies shot)


I was disappointed that they didn't have any Komodo dragons, but K was just tickled pink with all the animals we got to handle!

From the turtle park, we were taken to Dreamland beach, where we watched the surfers, and then to cliffside Uluwatu temple, where the views spectacular and the monkeys sneaky! Kelvin lost his water bottle to a snatchy macaque, and other tourists lost various items such as sunglasses (and had to bribe the monkeys with food to have hope of regaining them).






Our day concluded with a delicious seaside dinner, a seafood barbeque on the beach at Jimbaran Bay (thanks, Amy + family and Aline!), where we watched waves crash to the shore and enjoyed being serenaded by this band playing popular songs on Indo instruments.



On Thursday, we woke up reeeeallly early (1 a.m.) to be transported to the Mt. Batur area in the northern part of the island for a sunrise hike to the top of Mt. Batur volcano (1717m) [thanks, Kristin & Caesar!]. We hiked from about 4 a.m.- 6 a.m. in the DARK (!) and, unfortunately, it was too cloudy to see anything from the top, but we still enjoyed our volcanic-steamed eggs and views of Lake Batur on the way down. The volcano's last major eruption was in 1963.




Thermal "oven"





After napping, we enjoyed a yummy Indo buffet lunch in Kintamani, overlooking the volcano, visited the Batur temple, one of the largest in Bali (an island where 75% of the population is Hindu, although Indonesia is predominantly Muslim overall), soaked in the Toya Devasya hot springs, and enjoyed a therapeutic massage overlooking the lake (much needed after our hike-- thanks, Michelle & Andy!). The lakeside cottage where we stayed prepared for us a dinner with delicious fresh fish from the lake!

Mt. Batur


Batur temple


(men are required to wear a headpiece, and sarong, to enter)


Toya Devasya Hot Springs Resort




Massage hut


Lake view


Our cottage


On Friday, we returned to South Bali and spent the day visiting various artisans' shops in the Ubud area (thank you, Patty!). We saw batik-making, silver-making, woodcarving, and painters at work, seeing tons of beautiful artwork and buying just a little. Ubud is a very cool city-- filled with galleries and craft stores, and we only wish we had more time to spend there.






Ubud also houses the Monkey Forest (Sanctuary), where over 300 macaques play with tourists and provide much entertainment. We saw another tourist lose her wallet here at the hands of a monkey (who was probably just wanting a banana) and we were very careful with our belongings :)



Mom and baby







Tegenungan waterfall



We watched a beautiful traditional Kecak and fire dance performance (a man literally danced in a bonfire!) and enjoyed a multi-course Indonesian feast accompanied by legong dancing to conclude the near-perfect day. Indonesian food is soooo tasty-- we have enjoyed crispy duck (bebek goreng), fried noodles (mia goreng) and rice, sauteed vegetables, excellent hot chiles, tamarind beef, and are looking out for the delicacy suckling pig.







At dinner, they gave us all (even the guys) these franjipani flowers for our ears.
Lychee martini (thank you, Kristin/Caesar!)





We have one more day in Bali before heading to stop and country #2, Malaysia and the Perhentian Islands... the fun continues!!!